Sparkling wines
Nowadays, on more and more special occasions, you are offered a glass of sparkling wine as a welcome drink. Sometimes real Champagne, but more and more often also a variant thereof. The difference between a "still" wine (without bubbles)and a sparkling wine is that the last one in most of the cases has been made bubbly with the help of naturally obtained carbon dioxide. There are various methods to produce this festive drink and the most famous of these is the so-called "Methode Champenoise".
Since 1994, after years of legal battle, the name Champagne (or rather the term "Methode Champenoise") has been reserved exclusively for the bubbles that come from the champagne region in France. Sparkling wines that come from other areas often use the term "Methode traditonnelle". Champagne stands for quality and exclusivity, and therefore, because of the name protection, also for lesser availability. The winemakers from that region also make good use of it(read: abuse) by greatly increasing the price of the wines that may bear this name indication. A funny detail is that the Champenoise method was almost certainly discovered and used in areas other than the Champagne region. The grape varieties used to make(white) Champagne are the Pinot Noir, the Pinot Meunier and the Chardonnay.
Champenoise method:
Different types of young white wines (and sometimes also some wines from previous years) are made into a composition called "cuvée". Then the so-called “liqueur de tirage”, which is a mixture of wine, sugar and yeast, is added and the whole stuff is bottled and sealed with a crown cap. Subsequently, fermentation takes place in the bottle whereby a little alcohol and carbon dioxide are formed. (The carbon dioxide is responsible for the formation of bubbles.) Because the fermentation process develops in the bottle, a lot of deposit or lees is created and the pressure increases considerably. After maturing for at least 15 months, the lees is removed, making the champagne nicely clear. There are different ways for this. The oldest existing way is to place the bottles in "pupitres". These are wooden racks that stand on the floor in a sort of inverted V and where the bottles are inserted horizontally (see photo). The goal is to get the deposit to the neck of the bottle and to achieve that, the "remuage" follows. Hereby the bottle is removed from the pupitre and placed in a slightly more vertical position so that the depot shifts a little more towards crown cap. Today, the remuage process is mostly carried out by computer-controlled machines and no human hand is involved. After a few weeks, the bottle is completely upside down and the depot leans against the crown cap. In this position the bottleneck is passed through a salt bath of no less than –20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) and as a result the depot freezes. Now the bottle is placed upright and the bottle cap is removed. Due to the high pressure created by the fermentation, the plug of the now frozen depot comes out of the bottle. To fill the void that this creates, each champagne house uses its own mixture that can consist of e.g. old champagne wine, cane sugar and / or cognac. After this, the bottle is fitted with the final cork and additionally sealed with a "muselet", that is the metal cap with iron wire that must prevent the cork from leaving the bottle on its own.
Method traditionnelle:
This is almost the same as the champenoise method, but with the difference that the maturation process on the bottle instead of 15 must take place for at least 9 months.
Cava:
Cava is the Spanish name for sparkling wine made according to the traditionnelle method. Similar to the French counterpart, and certainly just as tasty! The distinctive feature of this designation of origin is that it is not a single continuous wine-growing region, as is the case with all other D.O.’S (denominación de origen). The majority of production takes place in the Barcelona area and around the area. The most important center in “Cava land” is the town of San Sadurni de Noya in Penedés because the biggest players of sparkling wines on the world market are located there; Freixenet and Codorniu. Rioja, Valencia and Navarra are also known for their beautiful Cava's. The grape varieties used to make Cava are Macabeo, Xarel-lo, Parellada and to a lesser extent Chardonnay.
Finally, a taste table to facilitate your choice in the wine shop;
• If Extra Brut or Brut Nature is in the bottle, the content is very dry (less than 6 grams of sugar per liter).
• If Brut is in the bottle, the content is very dry (up to 15 grams of sugar per liter).
• If Extra seco is in the bottle, the content is quite dry (between 12 and 20 grams of sugar per liter).
• If Seco is on the bottle, the contents are dry (between 17 and 35 grams of sugar per liter).
• If Semi-dulce is in the bottle, the content is semi-sweet (between 33 and 50 grams of sugar per liter).
• If Dulce is in the bottle, the content is sweet (more than 50 grams of sugar per liter).
Cheers, and enjoy your bubbles
in moderation!
Roel Peters RP-Vinos USA
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